Mounting bracket for tubular lamps



Jan. 26, 1954 H. H. GOLDTHORPE MOUNTING BRACKET FOR TUBULAR LAMPS Filed May 5, 1951 Invervh'or Harold H. Gold'thor' P K His Attor y We Patented Jan. 26, 1954 MOUNTING BRACKET FOR TUBULAR LAMPS Harold H. Goldthorpe, Cleveland, Ohio, assignor to General Electric Company, a corporation of New York Application May 5, 1951, Serial No. 224,755

1 Claim. 1

The present invention relates to lighting equipment generally and particularly to such equipment useful for indirect illumination.

An effective lighting scheme for attractively illuminating the rooms of dwellings comprises mounting tubular fluorescent discharge lamps horizontally along the top of the window and mounting in front of said lamps an opaque bafiie in the form of a decorative valance to shield the lamps from view. Difficulty has been encountered in mounting suitable lighting equipment on the window frame because it is necessary to support the lamp ballast, the sockets for th lamps and the valance all in proper relationships.

An object of the present invention is to provide lighting equipment in the form of a fixture readily mounted as a unit on a side wall, such as a window frame, or the like, and adapted. to support a lamp shielding member, such as a valance for concealing the lamps and the equipment. Another object of the invention is to provide brackets mountable on a, standard wiring channel or raceway and provided with lamp sockets for supporting a tubular lamp between said brackets and having means at the ends thereof for the attachment of a valance. Still further objects and advantages attaching to the invention will be apparent from the accompanying drawing and the following detailed description thereof.

In the accompanying drawing an embodiment of the invention is shown in which, Fig. 1 is a plan view of lighting equipment embodying the invention mounted on a supporting side wall, such as a window frame, and support a horizontally extending Valance concealing the lamps mounted in the equipment; Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the end portions of the equipment shown in Fig. 1 with one of the end brackets removed from the raceway to show the attachment means for the brackets; Fig. 3 is a similar view of the component parts of a bracket separated to show the internal structure thereof.

Referring to the drawing the lighting equipment comprises wiring channel or raceway in i the form of an elongated rectangular housing I provided with a cover 2 slidable longitudinally in the grooves 3 and along the sides 5 and 6, respectively, of the open front of the housing I. The cover 2 is thus readily removable for wiring purposes and is firmly held in position on the housing I by the grooves 3 and t.

The housing I may be attached to the support i (Fig. 1), such as a window frame, in any conventional manner, such as by providing the rear wall E thereof with openings (not shown) to accommodate screws for holding the housing I on the support wall 1.

End brackets 9 and intermediate brackets I0, of minimum thickness to minimize the space between lamps II, are mounted and spaced apart on the housing I so as to accommodate therebetween tubular fluorescent discharge lamps II (Fi 1) of the same or different standard sizes to suit a particular location. For example, the center lamp I I may be a 20 watt fluorescent lamp, 24 inches in length and the end lamps II may be 15 watt lamps, 18 inches in length. Obviously, the intermediate brackets It may be omitted and a single lamp, such as a or a watt lamp, 36 or 43 inches in length, respectively, may be mounted between end brackets 9.

The brackets 9 and I9 are identical in structure and each has outwardly turned end flanges I2 and I3 (Figs. 2 and 3) which are slightly wider than the body of the bracket so that the sides thereof engage the grooves 3 and 4 in the housing l to hold the bracket on the housing during assembly. The brackets 9 and Ill are firmly clamped to the housing I, after the electrical connections have been made between the lamp ballast (not shown) in the housing and the sockets on the brackets, by the threaded bolts I4 passing through openings in the flanges I 2 and I3 into engagement with threaded holes in the strips I 5. The ends of strips I5 extend underneath the grooved sides 5 and 6 so that the brackets 9 and I0 are firmly clamped on the housing I.

For safety purposes, the wiring in the housing I is completely enclosed by closing the end portions thereof by the short cover portions It engaging grooves 3 and 4 and the end pieces I! holding the said cover portions It in place. The end pieces I! are attached to the housing by the side tongues I8 which fit into the space behind the grooved portions 3 and 4 of sides 5 and 6, and the bottom flange I9 extending into the housing and engaging the bottom wall 8 thereof. The flange l9 and the wall 8 are provided with openings 29 and 2|, respectively, to receive the holding pin 22.

The end brackets 9 are each provided with a single lamp socket 23 of a commercial type bolted thereto and the intermediate brackets It have a pair of said sockets 23 similarly mounted thereon. The lamp sockets 23 each has a slot 23 therein and are mounted on the brackets 9 and ID with the said slot 23 opening toward the side of the brackets for receiving the two contact pins on the ends of the lamps I I. The lamps ll thus can be mounted and dismounted from the side of the unit.

One of the end brackets 9 and each of the intermediate brackets in is provided also with a conventional holder 24 (Fi 3) for a commercial starter switch 25 (Fig. 1). The holder 24 is bolted to the bracket and is disposed within the hollow interior thereof with its current lead wires, together with those of the socket 23, extending from the interior of the bracket into the housins I. ing 2e opposite the holder 2d for mounting the starter switch 25 one of which is required for each lamp H.

Both the end brackets 9 and the intermediate brackets iii are made up of two sheet metal parts 2? and 23 held together by bolts 29 (Fig. 3). Each of said parts 2'! and 28 is a duplicate of the other and these parts 21 and 2B are reversed in assembly to make up the bracket. Each part 2'? and 28 is made from a strip the end portions of which are bent at right angles to its body portion and one side of which is cut and folded to constitute a side 30 and one-half 3! of the top of the hollow portion of the bracket.

The parts 27 and 23 have knockout portions 32, as shown in part '2'! at the left of Fig. 2, which may be removed to provide an opening (Fig. 3) in back of each the sockets 23 and another opening 25 opposite the starter switch holder 24 where one is mounted in the bracket. The knockout portions 32 may remain in place where these openings are not needed, as in back of holder 24, or when one socket or the holder 24 is omitted, as on the end brackets 9.

The lead wires attached to the socket 23 mounted on the said parts 2? or 28 extend through the opening in the part on which the socket is mounted (Fig. 3) and the starter switch 25 eX- tends through the opening 28 into engagement with holder 24. Bolt holes 32 are provided in diametrically opposed positions and offset from the knockout portions 32 to receive the fastening bolts of the sockets 23 and the holder 24.

The bent end portions 33 and 34 of the parts 21 and 28, respectively, of the brackets 9 and The bracket is provided with an open- H] are each provided with openings 35 and 36 so that a lamp shielding member in the form of a valance 31 may be firmly attached thereto by screws 38 as shown in Fig. 1. Obviously, the valance 31 may be translucent and may be attached by other means, such as a pin and socket, to the outer ends of brackets 9 and it.

From the above it is apparent that the unit is readily mounted on the wall of a room, and particularly on the portion of a window frame above the window, that the valance 3'? is readily mounted on the unit, and that the valance, the lamp, and the supporting and auxiliary equipment of the unit are disposed in proper relationship for concealing the lamp and its equipment from view and for ready replacement of the lamp in the unit.

, What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

A bracket for supporting an elongated tubular lamp and a lamp shielding member on a wiring channel, said bracket comprising two sheet metal strip-like members having their respective end portions extending at right angles to the center portion and in the same direction, the center portion of each strip having a longitudinal edge thereof folded in the opposite direction from said end portions and shaped to engage the center portion of the other of said strips to space said strips, means to fasten said strips together to form a hollow bracket having flange extending in opposite directions at each end thereof for attachment to the wiring channel and to the lamp shielding member, and a lamp socket mounted on said bracket between its ends to support the lamp between said shielding member and said Wiring channel.

HAROLD H. GOLDTI-IGBPE.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,559,424 Guth, Jr. July 3, 1951 2,569,518 Deutsch et al Oct. 2, 1951 2,595,488 Runge et al May 6, 1952 

